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Landfall as Mars
Similar to the suspected connection between Eterra and Earth, an unconfirmed theme of the series is that Landfall is Mars. It is unclear exactly how this could be possible, but the following clues support the theory: * The constellations in the night sky over Landfall are roughly the same as the present-day constellations we see from Earth. This suggests that Landfall is at least very close to Earth, in space. * In particular, the Hourglass constellation above Landfall is identical to the Orion constellation above Earth. * In the panamaris, Eterra is depicted as a two-star constellation, where one star is much larger than the other. With a powerful enough telescope, this is how Earth and its moon would appear from Mars. * Also in the panamaris, two "wanderers" or "wandering stars" are depicted. The Greek word for wanderer is planetes and is the etymological origin of the word "planet." Thus, the two wanderers in the panamaris are likely planets in the same solar system as Landfall. One of these wanderers is depicted with a raised, tilted, stone bar carved through it. With a powerful enough telescope, this is how Saturn would appear from Mars. The other wanderer is likely Jupiter. This suggests that at the time the panamaris was carved, Landfall's astronomers had not discovered the other planets of the Earth/Mars solar system. * Landfall has two moons: Deimon and Faebon. They are tiny -- barely larger than stars in the night sky. Deimon, in particular, is very distant and dim. Faebon crosses the sky rapidly -- twice a day, in fact. These characteristics are identical to Deimos and Phobos, the two moons of Mars. * The face of Faebon, as seen from Landfall, has a pronounced shadowy shape resembling the cup of a chalice. This is called the Chalice of Faebon, which, according to legend, lifts water from the ocean to pour storms from the sky. Shadows in the Stickney crater, on the Martian moon Phobos, could be said to resemble the cup of a chalice. * The continent of Landfall is a large pangaea covering the entire northern hemisphere of the planet. The continental shoreline runs roughly along the equator, and the entire southern hemisphere is a large ocean. Although Mars currently has no oceans, its entire southern hemisphere has a higher elevation than its northern hemisphere. If Mars were flooded with enough water, the entire northern hemisphere would be ocean, and the southern hemisphere would be a large pangaea. If the planet was then somehow "flipped" (or if the compass was reversed) Mars would strongly resemble Landfall. * Supporting the theory of a "flipped" Martian map, the sun rises in the west in Landfall and sets in the east. This same phenomenon would be observed on Earth, if maps of Earth were flipped such that "north" pointed to Antarctica. * Further supporting the theory of a "flipped" Martian map, a compass (in Landfall) always points south. * The deepest underground depths of Landfall are called the Blood Deep. It is said that "the veins of the world run red as the Blood Deep." On the one hand, this suggests a traditional hell-like underworld. But it also suggests that the soil and rock of Landfall is colored red, like the soil and rock of Mars. * The Green Cradle is only a relatively small "slice" of the continent of Landfall. The rest of the continent is believed to be treacherous and uninhabitable. It is difficult to align the Green Cradle with a topographic map of Mars. However, if one were to "flip" a topographic map of Mars, such that north was south and vice versa, the high Martian mountain region of Tharsis could possibly correspond to the treacherous eastern region of Haelfaun, and the Martian mountains of Terra Sabaea could correspond to the Shivering Peaks west of Bruhinn. In this configuration, the Martian mountain of Elysium would also directly correspond to the location of Elysia, the ancient Shaolei slave city that surfaced from beneath the ocean at the end of Water's Age. * In the night sky, the Twin Stars point the way to Landfall's south pole. A pair of bright stars point toward the north pole of Mars. * The Knife of Fate in Haelfaun resembles the Valles Marineris in Tharsis on Mars. * The three volcanoes of Tharsis are called Arsia, Pavonis, and Ascraeus. The ancient Cayrien name for the three volcanoes of Haelfaun are Sarion, Pauvion, and Arcanion. * In later books, it becomes clear that Mount Sinthrall is on almost the exact opposite side of the planet from Bruhinn. When it is midnight at Mount Sinthrall, it is midday in Bruhinn. This is consistent with Haulfaun being Tharsis, and the Shivering Peaks being Terra Sabaea, which are on opposite sides of Mars.